Unrequited Love
by Jystexlo
Summary: Kagome knows that she'll never be the one that Inuyasha loves, but it's hard to always keep her feelings in bay when he's gone away for another. R/R, no hate please, please enjoy!


**A/N: I've been feeling emotional lately, and this is what came up from it lololol. Forgive me for the bad grammar. I just really wanted to let this out. It might not make sense, but I don't plan on changing anything in the future. Perhaps correct some mistakes, but the plot will not be changed. **

XXX

There can be nothing worse than this.

Kagome stared off into the sunset, her eyes following the figure of the man she had unfortunately fell in love with chase after another.

It was expected of him, to be honest, and there was nothing she could have done to stop him. Kikyo was his first love, the first human to treat him like the good man he was. He had hesitated at first, looking over at her with his gorgeous golden eyes.

It was filled with concern for her, and she knew that he wanted to go - desperately, even, but didn't want to hurt her feelings. Before she could stop herself, she gave him a smile and told him not to worry about them.

"Go," she said. Her heart pounded against her chest, threatening to burst. "Make sure she's safe. We'll be waiting for you here."

And with a look of determination, he was gone.

Sucking in a sharp breath, she turned around to Sango, Miroku and Shippo - who all stared at her with concern.

It was nothing new to her, so she was used to it. When a rumor about Kikyo pops up, Inuyasha would be gone for hours, sometimes even days. He would apologize to her when he came back, and she would forgive him without a doubt. Then comes the next time a rumor comes, he would be gone once again.

It was a cycle that could not be stopped.

"Let's go, guys!" She said, a smile on her face. Readjusting her bag, she started walking to the nearest village. "We have to find somewhere to stay until he comes back."

Sango and Miroku both looked at her sadly, before following her footsteps.

XXXX

The nights without Inuyasha was cold.

Without her realizing, she had gotten used to sleeping with Inuyahsa in the same room as her, and each time he left her for Kikyo, she found it harder and harder to fall asleep.

A knock on her door broke her out of her trance and without waiting for an answer, the door slid open revealing Sango standing at the doorway.

"Kagome?" She asked, her voice soft. She walked into the room and closed the door behind them. "Are you okay?"

Kagome forced a smile on her face, patting the spot next to her for Sango to sit. "Of course I'm okay, why wouldn't I be?"

Sango pursed her lips. It was obvious that Inuyasha's absence has taken a toll on the girl. "You look sad, Kagome. Ever since Inuyasha left."

At the mention of his name, Kagome sighed deeply, keeping her eyes down and staring at the ground.

"This always happens, you know? I just have to learn how to deal with it." She said, twirling a strand of hair around her fingers. "It's not like it's the first time that this had happened."

"But you wish it wouldn't keep happening, right?" Sango said, settling in beside Kagome. "Don't you wish that he would stop looking for Kikyo?"

Sadly, Kagome shook her head. "Kikyo is his first love, and I can't let my selfishness stop him from seeing her, especially when she's not fully recovered." Kagome tucked in her legs and wrapped her arms around them. "I told him I would stay with him even if he never returns my feelings… but I never realized how hard it actually would be to do so."

Placing a hand on her back, Sango rubbed soothing circles as she continued.

"It's already hard enough for him to be apart from the first person he's ever loved, I don't want to force him to choose between me and him…" Kagome trailed off.

"So you picked for him?" Sango finished for her. Kagome nodded, a tear falling from her eyes, but she quickly wiped it away with her sleeve.

"I picked for him because I didn't know if I could handle the feeling of him picking Kikyo over me."

Silence filled the room, and Kagome couldn't help but laugh.

"I always wished to never have to know the feeling of heartbreak, but here I am…" Kagome said, seemingly not realizing the tears that had started to fall down her face, dampening the fabric of her clothes. "I just had to fall in love with that stupid half demon."

"Kagome…" Sango whispered, not knowing what to say. It was heartbreaking to see Kagome - who was beautiful, smart, and so strong to break down because of unrequited love.

"He just keeps coming back, you know? He's the one that always protects me, and always so possessive that it made me think that I actually had a chance…" she sobbed, covering her mouth with her hand. "I love him so much…." Kagome cried, burying her face into Sango's kimono. "...but I'm not the one that can make him truly happy…"

Sango rested her chin on Kagome's head, her hands continued to rub soothing circles on her back as Kagome let out everything she had been holding back from the time she saw the kiss between Inuyasha, to every time he had left her alone - wondering if he would ever come back to her.

Her cries could be heard from the room next to hers, where Shippo laid on Miroku's lap, his own tears threatening to spill as they listened to her sobs.

"Why doesn't she just find someone who will love her the way she deserves?" Shippo whispered to Miroku. "I don't like seeing Kagome sad."

Miroku sighed, his hands patted Shippo's head.

"It's easier said than done," Miroku said with a sigh. "She loves him too much to let go."

XXX

As night turns into day, Kagome woke up to the sun shining across her face. She groaned as she stretched and sat up from the floor. She noticed that Sango had left her room - probably in the middle of the night when she fell asleep after her breakdown.

Kagome cringed. Everything she had said yesterday was her feelings that she buried deep inside her heart.

She was never supposed to reveal it to anyone.

Standing up and patting away the wrinkles on her clothes, she opened the sliding doors of her room, sighing as she breathed in the fresh air.

"Good morning, Kagome…"

Kagome turned her head, and smiled when she saw Miroku, Sango and Shippo standing beside her. Their smiles were tense, and no one said anything for a while - no doubt not wanting to sadden Kagome even more than she was.

"I'm sorry for last night…" she started, a sheepish smile on her face. "I must've been pretty loud…"

Miroku and Shippo shook their heads violently. "Loud? I didn't even hear a thing!" Shippo exclaimed. "Right, Miroku?"

Miroku nodded. "The only thing I could hear is the sound of beautiful women calling out my name in my dreams."

Sango quickly slapped him in the face with a pissed off look, before turning to Kagome and grabbing both of her hands in her own.

"I hope you're feeling better, Kagome." She whispered, her grip tightening. "Next time you feel like letting out your feelings to someone, I hope you know that your friends are here for you. No matter what." She said, determinedly. Kagome smiled sweetly, pulling Sango in for a hug.

"Thank you, Sango. I don't know what I would do if you weren't there last night." She whispered, recalling all the things that she had said to her friend. Pulling away from her, Sango smiled.

"And I think it would be best if you didn't tell Inuyasha what happened last night…" Kagome said, her smile dropping. "It would add to his worries…"

Sango wanted to argue, but stopped herself when she saw Kagome looking at something behind her.

Turning around, she bit her lip as she saw Inuyasha walking slowly towards them.

"You're back." Kagome said, a smile - forced, and it was obvious - reappeared on her face as she walked towards him. "How was Kikyo?"

Inuyasha stayed silent, examining the dark haired girl. "She's doing good." He said, cautiously. "Are you okay?"

Hearing that again from him, she wanted to cry, shout, and tell him everything she had said last night, and that she's not okay - and probably never will be. She wanted to confess her feelings to him once more, and hear the four words that she had longed to hear from the white-haired half-demon.

But alas, she knew that it wouldn't have made a difference.

XXXX

Inuyasha wasn't the same.

Kikyo's death has influenced him more than they expected, and it was obvious that it was slowly killing him.

His mind and body were slowly being consumed by the thoughts of Kikyo.

Dead. And he couldn't save her.

Kagome watched in pain, as Inuyasha stopped eating, stopped drinking, and eventually, he had stopped sleeping as well.

"The dreams," he had said. "It's too painful."

As the days turned into weeks, it had seemed as if the half-demon was a soulless corpse, waiting to be rotted away. He had gotten so skinny that his bones can be seen from under his skin….

"You have to eat, Inuyasha!" Kagome said, holding a bowl of rice in front of him. "If you don't eat, you'll die!"

Inuyasha merely turned his head away from her, and Kagome felt a teardrop from her eyes. She turned his face towards hers gently and placed her forehead against his.

"Please, Inuyasha…I'm begging you..." Kagome whispered. "You have to take care of yourself."

Greeted once again by silence, she leaned back from the half-demon, her hands dropping onto her lap in defeat.

"Please… Inuyasha." She sobbed, covering her face with her hands. She hadn't even realized that it was shaking so much.

"I can't -no, I won't let you continue on like this."

XXXX

"Have you made your choice, young priestess?" The voice asked, and Kagome nodded determinedly.

"There is no other choice," she said. "This is the only choice that can make him happy, the only choice that can allow him to be what he was before."

Silence.

"Is this half-demon worth sacrificing your life for, priestess?"

Without hesitation, Kagome nodded once again. "I have no doubt in my heart about my decision."

"I admire your courage, and therefore, I shall grant your wish."

Kagome smiled. "Thank you."

She closed her eyes, and soon she felt the ground collapse from underneath her, and then everything was black.

XXXX

"Where's Kagome?" Sango asked, as they walked out of the Inn that they were staying at for the night. "It's time for us to leave."

Miroku sighed. "Wasn't she was Inuyasha last night?"

The two turned towards Inuyasha, who looked away from them - like he's been doing for the past week.

But suddenly, Inuyasha looked up - his golden eyes became more alive then they have been for weeks. Then he gasped, looking at something walking towards them.

Red. White. Black.

"Is that…" Miroku muttered, his eyes following the figure as he got closer to them. "There's no way… she's supposed to be…"

Then realization seemed to dawn on Miroku, and as he looked over at Sango, it seemed like she had realized what had been done.

Kagome isn't here. Kikyo is back.

"No…." She choked out a sob. "She couldn't have…"

Shippo tugged on the fabric of Miroku's clothes. "Hey Miroku.. where's Kagome?" He asked, quietly. "Why is Kikyo alive? I thought she was…"

Miroku looked up into the sky.

"She loved him too much, but she let go of him - so that he could have the life that she wanted him to have."

XXXX

_"__Be happy" _

XXXX

**A/N: if you guys don't understand, basically, when Kikyo died, Inuyasha was so upset that he was basically killing himself. Kagome didn't want that - she didn't want him to suffer so much so she found someone/something (didn't have the time to make up who) that has the ability to revive someone in exchange for her own life. She knew that Kikyo made Inuyasha happy, and that's all she wanted. So she sacrificed herself in exchange for Kikyo's life. The last line is Kagome's last wish for Inuyasha. **

**I hope you enjoyed the story, please read and review! **


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